This invention relates to an integral water/oil radiator, particularly suitable for use on a vehicle to cool the water and oil used by the vehicle engine cooling circuit and lubricating circuit respectively.
It is known to cool the fluids (normally oil and water) used in the lubrication and cooling circuits of a vehicle internal combustion engine by a pair of separate radiators which are variously positioned, compatible with the overall radiator dimensions in relation to the space available, within the vehicle engine compartment usually so that they are exposed to the air flow produced by the vehicle movement.
This method on the one hand suffers from considerable space requirements, while on the other hand does not always enable the radiators to be installed in a suitable position. To overcome these drawbacks "integral" radiators have been proposed, defined substantially by a conventional water radiator shaped to allow the oil radiator to be fixed below it by bolted brackets. This method has however other drawbacks, such as a certain complexity of assembly, relatively high cost, heaviness and a reduction in the useful heat transfer surface of the oil radiator, which is housed between the vertical chambers defining the uprights of the water radiator.